Has anyone else fallen off the wagon?

londonjuju

Hi. I made it to Day 8 of the plan, lost nearly 6 pounds. But, then, I had an off weekend, or shall I say, an off four days where I ate whatever I felt like - basically how I ate before the plan. I weighed myself yesterday, at the end of my "binge", and I was up 5 pounds. I went back to a safe day today and we'll see what happens. I am frustrated. I don't love the food on the plan, but I haven't gotten that far into the recipes. I couldn't stand the carrot soup, but am o.k. with the flax granola, salads, and veggies. Anyway, has anyone else fallen off the wagon for a little while? How do you stay motivated?

kayceeme

HI londonjuju,

I have definitely fallen off the wagon, and more than once. Most recently, I took off the entire post-Easter week.

I have pretty routinely fallen off on most weekends, sometimes gaining back the hard fought weight loss from the previous weekdays. That is why it took me way more than 20 days to get through the 20-day Plan. I also hated that carrot soup!

I guess what helped keep me motivated was knowing that if I got back on I'd pretty definitely lose weight. Plus, as I progressed I gained some more knowledge about what foods work for me and which don't. So I have more foods I can safely eat, though certainly not enough yet.

Another motivating factor for me is the daily weigh in. So many other programs I've worked with caution you to only weight once per week. I think I need more frequent validation than that. I like knowing the results of what I ate the day before so that I can make adjustments right away.

Anyway, I hope you stay with it and allow yourself to have some ups and downs.

GmaQueenBee

I fall off the wagon on a weekly basis. I call it impulse testing. It generally happens on a rest day and I see something that I've been craving.

Weekends are the worst for me. During the week I'm pretty good about following the menu. Life is busy and it's easier to just cook what's listed. On the weekends I have non-tested food in the kitchen tempting me and I have time to spend looking through the cupboards. As I test reactive to a food I get rid of any things with that ingredient in it but there's still a lot to test.

The 1st time I made the carrot soup it was horrible. The 2nd time I reduced the amount of fresh ginger and increased the cinnamon & nutmeg. Made it much better. It's the flax granola that I still can't stand. The best dish thing that I discovered was the goat & machengo cheese. Yum!

londonjuju

Thanks, Ladies. I'm glad I'm not alone in this.

kayceeme

Jocyme,

"impulse testing"--love that! Regarding the flax, did you try the lighter flax seeds? I find them tastier than the dark. I add some raisins, dried cranberries, cinnamon and chopped almonds to mine. The only thing that I sometimes don't like is the texture of them once they've gotten soaked with the coconut milk.

I think that my aversion to the carrot soup stems from the idea that it made me sick, vs. the actual taste. Know what I mean? Still can't eat a certain candy since I got ill on it as a child!

Since I've made it through the 20 days and also the 5-day self test, I'm considering starting over from Day 3, following the Spring menu on The Plan website. I think that I did too much impulse testing and also think I have more knowledge now to do it more correctly. I kind of feel like there are quite a few foods that I am not sure whether or not they are safe.

airedalemom88

I started the Plan on Feb 15, 2013, and lost 28 lbs thru the end of June. Went on vacation and stuck to eating Plan based breakfasts. When I returned from vacation I stayed on track by eating safe foods thru the week and then allowing myself to take weekends off. I didn't weigh myself after vacation because my clothes still felt loose but last week I noticed that I wasn't quite as comfortable any more. Soooo, I made myself get on the scale on Friday and found I had gained back 6 lbs. On Monday I started back with day 4 (didn't feel like doing the cleanse) of the Spring Menu. This morning I found myself back with the energy I had when I was eating correctly and am thrilled to be back on The Plan. I enjoyed my time away, but feeling this good is really what it is all about.

leighsnow

Thank you for sharing... I am about to get started on The Plan and am curious as to how you are doing now since your post was back in August...

leelee_peri

I'm about to start the Plan again. Did great last summer, but over the course of the year, gained back all the weight plus some more. Job is stressful and I'm an emotional eater. :-( Work slows down in summer so I'm trying to get myself back on the wagon.

jane_tastic

Yes, I've misbehaved on the plan, particularly with holidays, special occasions, too-long work days, and ill-advised impulse grocery purchases. However, I generally have stuck pretty faithfully to my "friendly foods", so even though I haven't had tremendous, permanent weight loss, I feel much better and my weight stopped spiraling upwards. My lifelong elimination problems are resolved. I also haven't had trouble sleeping since I've been on the plan. I've done it for about 9 months.

My current problem is that I feel way over-hydrated, like I've completely flushed out all/any electrolytes. I'm drinking the correct # of ounces or less, but still feel deplenished. Any ideas on how can you keep hydrated and not completely deplete yourself? Thanks.

ActiveTami

Yes!!! I find it difficult to cook for myself when I am working so much. Now that it is summer I am dedicating my extra time to getting myself back on track. I am also trying to figure out ways that I can prepare to be on track once I start teaching again. I am looking into having the containers I need to freeze soups that I make on the weekend. Figuring out if it's going to be ok to chop everything on the weekends so it's easy to get to on the weekdays. I am experimenting with how to keep things fresh for longer, so I don't have to shop ALL the time. Also, just testing this summer to make sure I know exactly what I should have on hand to make sure I have easy access to my healthy foods. Maybe if I have these things set in place I will be less likely to just go out to eat. Although, I really enjoy the experience of eating out and not having to cook. Maybe I can talk to some of my regular hang outs about cooking meals that work for me. Lots of things to explore this summer.

I do want to remind folks that the book does talk about making the plan your own. I remember reading a story about a dad who would eat whatever he wanted, within reason, on the weekends when he had his kids, but would stick to the plan on the weekdays. I would imagine that it would take longer to loose weight, but it might be better than beating yourself up because you "fell off the wagon." From many of the posts I've read from this group, it sounds like many, if not all, of you are learning a lot about what you should and should not eat. I've even read some positive posts about how you let yourself have some days off but you are getting back to it. Hopefully you will keep it up. Sounds like there are some very positive, growth minded people in this group. I hope to continue to learn from you.

lightbeing1

I fell off in week two. However, in the falling off I made a huge discovery that it is corn not coffee that keeps awake at night. After eating no corn for two weeks and then indulging in some tortilla chips at dinner I could definitely feel what it was doing to my body. I really don't want to touch it again. As far as the flax cereal, I have been ordering it on Amazon and I actually like it. The soups I tweak and add different flavors and the sauces that she has for the chicken have been really good! I will not beat myself up for falling off, I am going to a baseball game tomorrow night, but just jump back it to it as soon as I can because I feel SO much better.